The Chicago Bears won their second game of the 2024 season, as they were victorious at home against the Los Angeles Rams by a score of 24-18. Despite a slow start to the contest, Chicago’s offense scored 24 points from the second quarter on, including a nine-yard touchdown pass from rookie quarterback Caleb Williams to wide receiver DJ Moore. Although there have been questions surrounding Moore’s production to begin the season, a smaller than usually level of production could contain several positives for the Bears’ team overall in long-term matters.

DJ Moore’s lack of productivity isn’t due to his own struggles, but several other external factors

Through seven years in the NFL, Moore has been one of the league’s most reliable and consistent wide receivers, as he has recorded three seasons of 1,000 receiving yards or more. The consistent level of production is even more impressive when the pass-catcher has had to played with multiple starting quarterbacks each season. Last season, DJ Moore was a key piece in the blockbuster trade that sent the Bears’ 2023 first overall draft selection to the Carolina Panthers, providing Chicago with its first true number one wide receiver in a few years.

Last season, Moore had the best year of his career, as he recorded 96 receptions for 1364 receiving yards, along with nine total touchdowns. Chicago’s top pass-catcher had five games in 2023 where he had 100 receiving yards or more and average nearly 16 yards per catch. In the Bears’ first four games of 2023, DJ Moore was the lone offensive threat as he recorded over 300 yards receiving and three touchdowns, despite the team losing all four games.

In Chicago’s first four games of this season, Moore has 22 receptions for 189 yards and just one touchdown, as the incompletions in his direction have drawn more publicity than his passes he has caught. The Bears’ top wide-receiver has been targeted significantly in the passing offense, but hasn’t been to make big plays as he is averaging just eight and half yards per receptions. DJ Moore’s yards per reception stat line is even worse once you remove his 44-yard Hail Mary catch at the end of the first half of the Colts game last week, which would drop to a concerning seven yards per catch.

Although fans are concerned with the production numbers early on, the fact that the Bears are 2-2 while there best wide receiver is struggling to make significant plays in the passing offense, it shows that the offense as a whole is improved. Last season, outside of DJ Moore, the only other reliable catching threat Chicago had was tight end Cole Kmet. So far this season, the offense has already had a 100-yard receiving game from rookie wide receiver Rome Odunze, and a nearly 100-yard game from Kmet, demonstrating that the team doesn’t need to count on just one player for productivity.

The plethora of pass-catchers that Chicago has is a direct reason for why DJ Moore might not have the most eye-popping numbers that he has had to start previous seasons. Along with Kmet and Odunze, the Bears’ offense has to work in Keenan Allen now that he is healthy and returned against the Rams. Although Chicago’s offensive scheme relies heavily on working three wide receivers into the passing attack, it limits a receiver’s ability to standout as the football needs to be spread around.

Furthermore, with Moore’s small amount of receiving yards and large plays, it also shows that the team as a whole is much improved compared to last season. In 2023, a good portion of DJ Moore’s best games Chicago won due to their best offensive player had an insane level of contribution in the victories. Although the Bears are 2-2 to start 2024, even in their two losses, they have lost by a combined score of 11 points.

DJ Moore’s lack of big plays is more attributed to Caleb Williams’ struggles

Questions regarding Moore and his stats, may be something that is entirely out of his control, given that he is working with a rookie quarterback in Williams, who has struggled to consistently connect with the top wide receiver. Against the Texans and the Rams, Chicago’s quarterback struggled to get the ball into the hands of his wide receiver, despite there being an open space to complete a pass. In Sunday’s game against Los Angeles, the Bears’ rookie quarterback missed DJ Moore, who was wide open heading to the end zone which would of being an easy redzone score.

Although there have been several misconnections early on, there is a strong possibility that Williams and Moore are able to build a more explosive and downfield connection as the season progresses. As alluded to earlier, Chicago’s offense has been able to target other pass-catchers, such as Kmet and Odunze, which can lead to defenses lapsing when it comes to downfield coverage later on against the Bears’ 1300-yard receiver. Once Williams becomes full comfortable with Shane Waldron’s passing scheme there is a likely chance that we see multiple 100-yard receiving games from DJ Moore in the second half of 2024.

It is also key to remember that the connection between Moore and Williams has a significant amount of time to develop as both players are under contract with Chicago for the next four years. During the majority of his time in Panthers and the Bears, Moore has rarely played with the same starting quarterback in back-to-back seasons as he has been mired with changeover at the quarterback position. Fans can’t be concerned with missed connections over the first few games of a rookie quarterback’s inaugural season, when there will be many more games to come.

Looking at Moore’s stat line through the first four games of 2024 can be concerning but aren’t concerning at all once they are put into perspective. Chicago’s top-level receiver is getting open, but it appears that the team’s rookie quarterback has had accuracy issues, especially downfield early on. Sooner or later, DJ Moore will begin to make downfield catches like he was accustomed to in 2023, but there are several external factors that have hampered that to begin 2024, which should be a long-term concern.

For More Great Chicago Sports Content

Follow us on Twitter at @chicitysports23 for more great content. We appreciate you taking time to read our articles. To interact more with our community and keep up to date on the latest in Chicago sports news, JOIN OUR FREE FACEBOOK GROUP by CLICKING HERE